The Lost Memory Job
by CrazyC00kie
Summary: Hardison mind was messed with and he doesn't remember that he had been married to Sterling once. I blame Mark Sheppard's con1 panel for this one - he said Aldis could play his husband on DW and I kind of went with it. Work-in-progress Sterling/Hardison
1. Chapter 1

If you were to take your time and observe James Sterling very closely, you could notice one most peculiar thing about the strange Interpol agent. A lot of the time you would see him with a glass of fine old Craig, but you would never see him touching the liquor.

Not ever.

He would hold the glass in his hands like a precious gem, swirling the liquid around the crystal glass, taking a deep breath and enjoy the smell of the rich tasty alcohol. But the glass never touched his lips.

There was a valid reason why Sterling never drank but not people knew that, and even less knew he actually didn't consume alcohol at all.

Alcohol was the reason why he had gotten into this entire mess in the first place. By normal reasoning he should hate the stuff and keep away from it as far as possible but this drink held so many valuable memories for him. He cherished the drink and yet loathed it at the same time.

How foolish he had been back then, too overwhelmed and naïve to see the danger that lay ahead. They had both been so young and inexperienced about the universe and its wonders and the dangers it held. Back then they had barely begum traveling with the Doctor. He and his beloved husband - just after their honeymoons.

When the president still had refused to let him marry the love of his life after saving the world from the Silence, the Doctor took them both to a strange world littered with couples of all species and sexes. Here, on Boundania, they married.

It had been the best day in Sterling's life or Canton's, as he was called in the old days.

They had risen their glasses of Craig on that magnificent moon and vowed to be there for each other no matter why may lay ahead on their journeys. Not time, nor space or distance could ever tear apart their true love.

If he had only known what he knew now. He had been so young, so foolish – he had been a different man.

The marriage of Canton Everett Delaware III and Jake Talley – a good memory, a happy one. Yet there were those that came at night, haunting his sleep and tormenting his old soul when he wasn't able to keep them away. Those memories that leave one sick and shaking with sorrow and regret, the ones you can never forget nor does one want to. The blame for all your horrible deeds, the regret for your mistakes.

Your bad consciousness, reminding you where you went wrong.

This particular memory must be the worst of them.

On that fateful day the three of them had been celebrating after a job well done.

There had been an alien in a major Craig distillery in Scotland when they arrived for the annual Whiskey, Rum and Craig festival. Of course it didn't take them long to chase the bad guys away. All it took was a little mumbo-jumbo on the Doctor's part, a few buzzes with the sonic screw driver and some luck.

At the end of the day Canton managed to single handedly save the entire Craig production and thus earned the gratitude of the owner and a livelong free pass for all the drinks he could ever want.

Of course he had to use the advantage that frightful night and celebrate with Jake. It had been a fabulous night, but the morning after had been the worst in all his life.

How does the saying go? Who rises too high has a long fall downwards. Canton fell the deepest anyone could ever go, he ended up in hell.

How one small mistake, one Craig too many could ruin your entire life and make you lose everything you've ever had. Everything you ever valued and leave your life devastated, in broken ruins and shattered memories.

That night after the huge party Canton woke up alone in their shared bed. The other side had been cold and there was no note on the nightstand or the pillow to be found. Jake always left a little message before leaving.

Every time but this one.

It took him a few hours to find out what had been different about that morning but ultimately that day, after getting royally wasted on the finest Craig in the country had been the beginning of the end for Canton. Not even the Doctor was able to fix what happened next.

But no need to get into painful detail, it had been a long time ago and lay in a long time in the past. Yet Sterling still thought about his late husband, he even checked up on Jake every now and again. It hurt like hell to see the younger man lead his life, unaware of his existence but there was nothing Sterling could do for him.

The Doctor had warned him, that if Jake were to remember the month directly after he had vanished from the hotel room, it might sent Jake's mind into overload and would go insane if he was very lucky. There was also the chance that he might die.

And yet despite all the danger he put Jake through, by being there. With the possibility he might get seen and recognized, Sterling simply couldn't stay away for too long.

He couldn't help himself to look out for his once so dear lover and do his best to keep him out of trouble. By god the kid could use all the help he could get as he seemed to have a way of constantly getting in trouble.

He was too smart for his own good and he knew how to use his talents to hack most of the problems away.

Smart Hardison, beautiful Hardison… lost Hardison.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**First off thank you for your nice reviews :) your comments are muchly appreaciated and if you wave and question/remarks don't hesetate to let me know.**

...

Jerking awake, Hardison's eyes few open in an instant. He sat up, breathing heavily and soaked to the bones in cold sweat while shivering from the sudden rush of cold air to his wet skin. Unfortunately his blanket had fallen to in the ground by his jerking motion.

Truth be told, the hacker couldn't remember a time when he didn't wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. They hadn't always been that terrible but that seemed like such a long time ago for him.

It might have started when he first agreed to work with Nate and the other guys to play Robin Hood and his band of merry thieves for the first time, but it might very well have been some time after that. He honestly couldn't remember. The past got fuzzy after too many night without sleep.

All he knew is that shortly after joining Leverage Consulting he couldn't sleep through the night anymore.

Generally speaking his dreams weren't that bad at all. Sometimes they were even pleasant, leaving him with a lingering feeling of warmth and love, but at some point he always violently jerked out of them.

Right before the big reveal.

Who was the person loving him so much? Holding him in his dreams and soothing his nightmares?

So many question.

But lately it were the other kind of dreams that kept him up at night working on their next heist or researching the bad guys history. The others might think he was dedicated to the job or high on his power drinks, but in reality he was fleeing from the horrible and confusing images that came creeping into his mind whenever he gave up and let sleep come.

If they only knew.

The dreams were the actual reason for him to drink that horrible stuff to begin with. He had learned early on that there was only so much off coffee a person could drink before feeling violently sick.

Not sleeping meant for Hardison to escape the confusing and painful thoughts that came more frequently these days.

They were like a sudden thought running through you mind at the speed of light, too fast to hold onto it, like the one important answer in the back of your head, shifting just out of reach whenever you tried to grab it.

As much as he wreaked his brain to remember the dreams, he seldomly could. It was la pointless task, like Tantarus who stood in a lake of water and yet never being able to drink it.

Hardison felt like that a lot of times.

There were those rare moment right after waking up, when his mind hadn't registered that his body had woken, that he could hold onto a few of those images – but that was all he could ever make out.

Images.

Pictures of him running around, smiling to someone on the path beside him.

A man in a suit.

A mad man and a blue box.

Stars that weren't stars and planets that weren't planet. People that weren't humans and humans that weren't people. He knew he had been there and yet he knew it couldn't be real. Those were the images of dreams where you knew the person you saw is you but as soon as you blink it's someone else or no one has ever being there.

The endless search for a face amongst thousands, in a crowded place and when you finally find him again and get him to turn… you wake up, and the memory is lost.

Hardison wished he knew who the person was he missed so much. He might not remember what was missing, but he felt the whole in his heart where a lover should have been.

He let his head sink back into the pillows and shut his eyes again. Who knew what dreams may come. 'Maybe this time I'll remember' was the last thought that passed through Hardison mind before a new wave of sleep engulfed him.

Right before he drifted off he could have sworn he heard a man's voice whisper in his ear, "sorry darling" but he forgot came the next morning.

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Dawn crept slowly along the Boston skylines, plunging the world into a dark and shadowy place. The perfect hideout for whoever didn't want to be found. The Leverage Teams favorite pub was emptying out rapidly, leaving only Nathan Ford and a few regular customers in McRory's bar.

The others had already gone upstairs or went out for the night. Parker was most likely stealing something, while Hardison was certainly hacking into some top secret government facility for fun. The kid worked way too hard and much on their heists, it was a miracle if the boy ever slept at all.

It couldn't be health but who was he to judge? A barely functioning drunk.

"Mr. Ford?" asked the short weary looking guy who had entered the pub only a few minutes ago. He wore glasses that he kept shoving up his nose, while at the same time brushing loose strands of hair back behind the ears.

When he spoke he had a distinct accent – Russian or maybe Czech but definitely eastern Europe.

He hadn't come up to him directly but he certainly knew how Nate looked. He seemed uneasy, shifting around a lot, like he was weary, always prepared to run if needed.

"Yes?" Setting his Glass of scotch aside, Nathan beckoned the soon to be new client to have a seat. The guy had the distinct troubled expression all his clients wore when coming in. They sometimes made a sport of finding new clients before they came up to them. Usually when they were hanging out together but tonight Nate sat by his own.

"I'm sorry to come here unannounced like this but I have nowhere else to turn to." Nervously he brushed a strand of wild hair back. "The police won't believe me. If you won't help me, no one will. Please it's a matter of life and death."

"Whoa!" interrupted Nate the man's rambling, holding up a calming hand. "What exactly happened?" Pinching the bridge of his nose Nate prepared himself mental for the oncoming tirade. He just knew he was in for a long night. "Why don't you tell me what happened and we decide if we can help."

"Thank you so much Mr. Ford." The guy grabbed Nate's hand and shook it enthusiastically, "I don't know who to thank you enough…"

"Yeah, it's fine", replied Nathan, carefully claiming his hand back and drowning the rest of his scotch before refilling the glass. "Please go on Mr..."

"Oh yes, right. Zelenka", he apologized profoundly, while pushing the glasses back up him nose, "My name's Radek Zelenka. I work for Atlantis Enterprises, it this.. uhmm.." He gestured wildly with his arms while looking for the right words.

"This huge science laboratory, I know", said Nate, "they have their offices downtown, right?"

"Yes, yes", agreed Zelenka in a rush, sounding hectic as if the world might end if he talks too slow. "We, that it me and some co-workers, we are the maintenance staff. Our job is to check that all the electronics are working properly and… you probably don't want to know that."

"No", smiled Ford warmly, taking another sip of his drink, "do go on."

"So… so we were working there for year now and nothing like that ever happened. My colleagues…", his voiced dropped to a hushed whisper, "they vanished. McKay, that is my boss, he said they quit but I know they didn't. They have family you see? They need the job, they would never resign." Zelenka took a deep calming breath before continuing. "But that's not all, you see. Whenever one vanished he was found dead within two days. The police said it were accidents but I know they weren't. They were killed. McKay murdered them because they saw something they shouldn't have."

"Really?" That piped Ford's interest, what could a major scientist with several PhD's have to hide, that he had to resort to killing his employees?

"Lights", whispered Zelenka, leaning in conspiratorially, "they all reported seeing purplish light coming from the cellars. McKay said it must have been the lightning, that there was nothing down there save for old files but that's not true. I've seen them too. But I knew better than to tell anyone. I kept my mouth shut and pretended it didn't happen. Otherwise I would be dead by now."

"Right", Nate felt a headache coming on with this job. Paranoid people, mad evil killing scientists and strange lights in the cellars. Your typical day at work. "We'll take care of it. Thanks for stopping by Mr. Zelenka."

They shook hands and the paranoid little man hurried out of the door the same way he had come in, slightly ducked and hurried like everyone was out to get him. In a matter of seconds Nate was left alone with his drink.

He drowned the last from his glass and made his way upstairs to inform the rest of his team about their next con.

"Let's go steal a murder."

TBC...

...

**A/N: at the moment I update whenever I have something new finished, if you rather have longer chapters let me know and I won't publish everyting as soon as it's written but wait until I have a little bit more :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I know you are wondering what all this has to do with Sterling and/or Hardison and their past but bear with me a little while longer it will all be revealed soon.**

**...**

"Okay Hardison, do your computer thingy", called Nate as soon as the last of their little team entered Nate's living-room. "My…my computer thingy? Nate, man…" Hardison complained only to receive a 'seriously? Not again' look from Parker who had just climbed in through the window, while Eliot sat down next to Sophie, who looked stunning as ever, and handed her a plate with freshly made food. She gave him a warm smile, nodding to Hardison to begin his pre-con presentation.

Hardison had been up all night once again to pull as much information as he could get for their next job together. He was glad that Nate had called them in the middle of the night, he couldn't sleep anyway and Nate took the hard decision between playing WoW or downloading the newest Tv-shows. Truth be told Hardison liked research a whole deal more, as it occupied his mid at least for a little while enough to let him forget about his dreams.

He pressed a few button on his remote control and the first pictures appeared on the huge LCD screen behind the hacker. They partly overlaid each other but had all one characteristic – they showed a middle aged, mean looking man. Sometimes he wore casual cloth but mostly a suit, while holding some science trophies in his hands. The guy clearly looked evil and smug.

"Doctor Rodney McKay", announced Hardison, shifting to the next couple of pictures. "He is the head of science at Atlantis Enterprises, that major science lab downtown." The building site appeared on screen, followed by the office layouts and a 3D model of the entire complex including elevator and vent shafts.

"His office is next to the main labs on the 6th floor. According to our client the strange lights where seen in the cellars", an unnoticed click on the remote made the entire building shift and zoom in on lower levels. "There is only one way down to access them and that is through the elevators…", the building layout shifted again and a small tube like area flashed red, "or the vent shafts."

Immediately Parker's hand shot up. "Oh here. Me, me, me!" She waved her hand left and right like a kid trying desperately to get the teachers attention. "I wanna go in through the vents."

"Yes, Parker", Parker still had her hand in the hair, halfway standing and snapping her fingers manically as well as giving slight waving in between , "Parker… PARKER! This is not school you can put your hand back down."

"Oh right." Sheepishly she sat back down, throwing a sweet smile upon seeing Nate's irritated expression.

Hardison brought up the employee records next. Tons of intangible paperwork littered the computer screen, filling the view with one top secret record after the other. The couple coming were the most interesting, they had big red stamps on them saying 'deceased'.

Hardison gave an appreciative whistle. "Looks like our guy was right. Five people have been fired or quit in the last month and all of them have been found dead within a week. The police called them freak accidents and never investigated."

"They weren't?" asked Eliot confused, taking a another bite from his sandwich. They screen showed the headlines of those death from newspapers or police reports: 'Man slipped and fell off a roof', 'Tragic accident in the bathroom' or 'Man died in dog attack'.

"You… what? Man you seriously ask if they were accidents? SERIOUSLY?" Hardison's voice went to a higher pitch than made him sound close to freaked out and confused. "A guy fell off a 10 story building with a fenced in roof? One drowns in the bathtub after having an electrical shock from the shaver 'cos the room was a bit too foggy. A Chihuahua attacks and kills a grown up an! You really think they might have been freak accidents? Seriously?"

Taking a deep breath to calm down again he all but drowned an entire bottle of Orange Soda in one go.

Eliot just shrugged nonchalantly. "I've seen worse."

"You seen worse? Man SERIOUSELY? You've probably done worse with a back of gumballs and a string…"

"Guys", interrupted Nate booming voice, "focus. We have a criminal and potential killer here. How do we take him out?"

"Yeah sorry, Nate. Right, we go in, check out that McKay dude, while Parker sneaks into the cellars to investigate the lights. If McKay is our an we take him down." No one disagreed. They stood simply up as if on commando and packed their belongings and equipment while keeping up a light banter.

"Alight lads you heard the man: let's go steal a scientist."

...

Dressed in a beige casual business dress with high heels and blacked rimed smart looking glasses Sophie approached the head of science Dr. McKay. She had her hand combed back and fastened to a bun. She looked like a professional business woman and faked an appropriated accent.

His secretary had warned her that McKay might be a bit eccentric and unapproachable but there hasn't been a man yet who could resist the charms of Sophie _Devereaux_ when she did what she does best - deceive people.

"Mr. McKay?", she asked in her fake high class New Yorker accent, "I am Nat.."  
>"Doctor McKay", interrupted the scientist her sharply, without even looking up from his work station. His eyes fixed on the screen he waved his left hand is a 'shhooooo-ing' motion to make her leave him alone. "And I don't care who you are. You are interfering with my work. Leave. Now." He mumbled some unpleasantness's under his breath but luckily for him neither she nor anyone over the coms could understand what he actually said.<p>

"_Doctor_ McKay", she tried again, emphasizing the doctor this time, "My employer has ambitions to fund your research with a large amount of money and would like know if it's worth investing in your firm. There are a few he has his eyes on and would like to ensure his money is in the most capable hands this country has to offer."

Startled, McKay looked up, piercing blue eyes scrutinizing her with distaste and mistrust, "of course it's worth it" he stated blankly "I am the best in my field. The rest of my staff is a bunch of useless idiots who don't deserve to call themselves scientist even less doctors but we have a ridiculous week schooling system who seems to let every mind wrecked drug addict child graduate… but you won't be paying their research. It's mine. Any more mindless questions from the moron you work for or can I get back to my very important work here?"

"I can see you are a very hard working man" Sophie drawled, leaning over McKay's desk and making eye contact. She knew very well how sexy she sat there, all but sprawled over his desk and flirted purposefully extra hard. Over the coms she could hear Nate's annoyed and slightly enraged voice "keep it down Sophie, we want to bring him down not get him laid."

Sophie ignored the little mean voice in her ear and kept playing the scientist. "Of course as such you wouldn't have much time to eat, while you're so busy. Maybe we could continue this discussion over dinner sometimes?"  
>"Excuse me?", he replied irritated, "could you maybe move a bit, this is highly sensible data and I can't see the screen with you leaning all over my desk and my very important notes. Thank you very much."<p>

Sophie wouldn't be Sophie if she gave up that easy. "But know this nice cozy Italian restaurant just down the road. They make devilish good pasta with lemon chicken."

"Where by _devilish_ is the right word!" he raised a pointing finger and kept stabbing it into her chest to emphasis his words. "If your employer wants a scientist, a_ living_ scientist, you're better off not feeding me things I am _deadly allergic_ to. Now would you mind leaving? And tell your employer if he wants to fund a proper research he should give the money to me otherwise he'll get as much results as giving it to a 10 year old – whereas the 10 year old might give him better results as the other so called scientists I know."

Meanwhile a few levels below Sophie and the hardest target she had to flirt with so far, Parker carefully unscrewed the cover plates from the vent shafts. Over the coms she could hear Sophie making her retreat and complaining how arrogant that man was. She quietly chuckled to herself and went into the vents.

But to her utter amazement it wasn't like any other vent shaft she'd ever seen before.

"Why are there heat and movement sensors in the vent Hardison?"

"Come again?" came Hardison confused reply, "there is what in the where?" It sounded like he was chocking on his orange soda.

"Sensors in the vent" Parker repeated as if talking to a dumb child. "So far I can spot a highly developed heat and movement sensor at least five meters into the vent, there are iron bar across the entrance to the main system and weight alarm sensors all over the floor."

"Can you out smart them?" Asked Nate. So much hadn't gone according to plan so far – if Parker couldn't manage to get in their entire plan would be screwed and they would have to come up with a new one. That would take time, time they didn't have. On this con there were lives at stake. They had to move fast on this one.

"No way," Parker squealed incredulously. "It's not just any high tech system I can cheat. It's tech that shouldn't even exist. Who secures their vent shafts like that? Where is the fun if we can't get in at all?"

"Alright," Nate announced heavy heated, finishing his drink up in the Atlantis enterprises lobby bar. "Gang finish, grab your things we are out of here we need another plan."

Everyone went their own ways to get out the building. They might have to come back, better not being seen together when dealing with a paranoid mark as they were this time.

The met up again outside of Lucile the 'who- knew-the-how-many'-th. Sophie looked annoyed, Parker was clearly heartbroken about the turn out and Nate paced up and down in front of the van. Hardison sat inside at his workstation, while Eliot sat on the back entrance in the open doorway, his feet hanging loosely out the partially opened doors.

"This guy is good," mused Nate, "he won't be lulled into talking to us or giving us any information whatsoever. If Sophie cant get him to talk no one can."

"I could try," piped parker up. If she couldn't manage to get into the building maybe she could break into the owner and find out a bit more about the beautiful tech in the vents and how the operate so she could disable them next time.

"Why would this guy will pay attention to a blonde, nerdy looking Parker, if he doesn't even glance twice at a sexy full on flirting Sophie?" growled Eliot impatiently. "I say let me go in. I grab the target, get out and we discuss this back at HQ?"

"Anyone else suggestions?" Asked Nate, pinching the bride of his nose in an oncoming headache. He knew the moment he saw their client walk in this would end in a disaster. Why didn't he listen to his gut feelings?

"Fine Eliot do it but be careful."

Eliot jumped to his feet, giving a grunt and a slight nod before heading over to the building and into it to finally steal their scientist.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long wait but I had main exams. But as a peace offering I made a companion piece wallpaper in case you want one :) Enjoy**

**http:/ i866. photobucket .com/albums/ab228/allrounder313/1copy .jpg**

...

"I'm in", growled Eliot in a low murmur, while hitting impatiently the elevator button. There had been a few minor problems with just waltzing into a highly secure office building that hosted one of the most advanced and partly governmentally run science laboratories in the entire state, when you looked like Eliot did that day. Namely like he always does – a large evil thug about to hit you… and while he may not be evil, or a thug, he was definitely about to hit someone.

_Ding_.

Finally the damn elevator arrived and its doors slid painfully slowly open. It was a surprise to the Hitter that they actually got anything done in this building at that speed.

On his way up Eliot prepared for the oncoming fight with the evil mad scientist. From what he had heard and seen of McKay it shouldn't prove to be a major problem to knock the guy out – the real problem would be to convince his secretary to let him in and get the unconscious lunatic out without alarming anyone.

Admittedly, he could just knock everyone else in this building out as well but those poor employees were innocent and didn't deserve to have the shit knocked out of them, just to get to their human killing boss. While every scientist deserved a fierce knock on the head in Eliot's book, Hardison would complain for weeks if he so much as touched an innocent hair on one of those weird geeky heads that ran around and worked in this company.

"How will you get him out?", asked Nate's voice over the coms, right before Eliot was about to step out of the elevator and onto the darkened and narrow hallway.

"Don't know yet", he replied gruffly, still thinking about his options. "Hardison can you clear the floor?" Even though no one was in earshot the Hitter still whispered, turning his head to one side and hiding his face behind his hair, one hand at the small device in his ear.

"Ey man sorry I wish I could but what do you want me to do? Ring the fire alarm? The building would be in a mayhem and neatly cleared out but no way, man, you could get the evil lord out unnoticed by the police or firefighters."

In the background he could hear the Hacker typing franticly on his keyboard. A steady, and if he was utterly honest, comforting rhythm.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick… TOCK… tick, tick, tick, tick… TOCK…_

_Typing in keywords… ENTER._

_Keywords… ENTER!_

Judging from the otherwise deadly silent Hacker, it looked like he had to make a plan up as he went along – not just hit, snatch and fight his way out. But that plan had to wait. Right now he had bigger problems to worry about – problems in the shape of McKay's beautiful young secretary.

"Can I help you?" asked the same friendly and quite shy looking secretary who had already greeted Sophie, a mere couple of hours before. She seemed like a decent girl and Eliot certainly didn't want to hit her on his way out. It would be a shame to disfigure that beautiful young women's face with an ugly bruise.

Not to mention that he hated hitting women on principle, he might be a criminal and a hitter but that didn't mean he couldn't be a gentlemen.

Maybe he could pull a Parker and jump out the window?

…..

….

Right…. like he was suicidal enough to do that.

"Hey there", he said smilingly as he approached her desk, giving her a little wave while reading quickly over her nametag, "Katie Brown. Do you think it would be possible to talk to your boss for a moment, Katie?" He gave her his most charming smile, doing his best to look harmless and innocent.

"Unless you have an appointment… I don't know", she replied uncertainly. She seemed new to the job and not entirely sure what she was allowed to do and what not. Maybe Eliot could use that as an advantage.

"Please? I promise I won't be long, just a quick jump in and I'm off on my way. Would be a shame to come all the way down here again. You know how it is, my boss' are busy yours is and you know how they get if you tell them you wasted your time without getting anything done." Eliot leaned forward giving her a conspiratorial wink, continuing in a low whisper. "I bet your boss is as bad tempered as mine and I really don't fancy getting shouted at for the rest of the month if it can be avoided."

Katie stopped what she had been doing, thinking and clearly flinching at her own experiences with bad tempered employers. "Well I suppose you could see him", she replied hesitantly after a moment. Eliot heart began to flame up, _yessssss,_ he got in. Soon this job would be over. "But he just went out on a short break… maybe if you hurry you can catch him outside."

"Thanks sweety." He blew her a kiss on his way out, already at a full sprint down the corridor and into the thankfully already opened elevator. Thank Hardison for that.

"Did he come out?" Panting, Eliot caught his breath while the elevator descended ever so slowly. He knew he should have taken the stairs. _DAMN IT!_

"Not yet", replied Nate, "we'll will keep an eye out."

Finally the elevator came to a full stop and the doors opened as painfully slow as they had closed. As soon as he could hop out Eliot started jogging down the main floor to catch up with their target. He spotted him immediately: an ill tempered middle aged man shouting at some poor random scientists that seemed to have a few work related problems.

Eliot made is way carefully over to his soon to be kidnapped victim, when he noticed a stranger watching him out of a semi abandoned corner.

Normally he wouldn't have thought anything about a small group of weirdly dressed strangers whispering amongst themselves but their leader seemed to look straight at him and when Eliot glanced over, they started to get twitchy and purposefully looked everywhere, except at him.

At first glance, Eliot wrote the lanky englishman of as a complete nerd but then ... there was just something about the man that made Eliot twitchy. He stood in the middle of the three people, clearly their leader and from their facial structure he would have guessed their all were British. The Hitter had traveled enough in his time to recognize someone's nationality at first glance.

This man might have the appearance of your run of the mill englishman but at a closer inspection Eliot saw that he clearly was not. He was something different, something Eliot was sure he had never encountered before - but then again Eliot had been to many places but not literally been _everywhere_.

Mr. Weird was wearing an old tweed jacket with a gray reddish button up shirt and spandex? And was that a bright red bowtie around his neck? Who the hell wore a bowtie nowadays?

Weirdo got stranger and stranger the more attention Eliot paid him. He was prepared to write them off as nutcases or tourists, despite his better judgment when something unexpected happened. Mr. Weird and Strange took off at a light jog across the main hall, running directly at him.

His two companion, a red haired girl and a younger man, seemed to be utterly confused at that but not entirely surprised - like they were used to him taking off to who-knows-where. It didn't take them long to sprint over themselves, trying to catch up with their mad friend.

Eliot stopped in his track, when the man leap the few steps over the entrance hall to stand directly beside him, draping a loose arm around his shoulders and steering him towards the main entrance door.

"You don't want that man", he murmured in a low whisper, "he isn't the one behind the mysterious death, but don't worry, you can call your little crew off. There will be no more disappearances... I've taken care of it." He whispered in Eliot's ear, leaning into his personal space just a little bit too much for comfort but the security guards were already watching him closely after he guys little sprint down the hallway. If he made a fuss now, there would certainly be questions. Better to play along - at least for the moment.

"And don't worry about the security", the stranger said cheerfully as if reading Eliot's very thoughts, "I told them I'd take care of you. Just follow my lead."

Letting go of his shoulders the strange man sauntered off calling blindly behind: "Come along Spencer."

The red headed girl that had barely caught up to them followed him outside, leaving a confused Eliot Spencer behind.

Too dumbfolded to do anything, Eliot stood there and stared after the weird group heading outside when he felt a hesitant hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to reality.

"Don't worry he gets like that a lot – he doesn't mean it. Just come outside and he'll explain everything… hopefully. He's a good guy and means well.. but sometimes he just forgets that not everyone knows what he does. Give him a chance."

Eliot glanced the new guy up and down, weighting his chances to hit and run out but his instincts told him not to – and his instincts were never wrong. The third person from the little group of weirdoes might look slightly like a geeky student but there was more to him than meets the eye at first glance. Underneath his boyish charm and young appearance, was an old soul. Eyes, too old for a man his age, that had seen way too much pain and horrors, looked back at him. Eliot knew better than to take chances.

Slowly he started walking and to his relieve the guy's hand vanished from his shoulder, once he set to motion. They walked the first few steps in silence, Eliot walking in front, the reasonably sane guy close behind.

"How'd you do it?" rumbled Eliot's voice, taking the stranger completely off guard.

"Do what?" He jumped a few steps ahead, to catch up with the Hitter so they could comfortably talk, walking now side by side.

"Been this chipper, despite everything." The guy's frown deepened, he had honestly no idea what Eliot was talking about. "Having fought and still remain smiling and nice all the time. I saw you standing over there with your friends and you had a constant grin plastered to your face. So how'd you do it?

"What?" spluttered the man, "how did you know? No one ever sees more than the poor weak Rory when they look at me. The helpless Rory, the guy who can't handle himself, the one who needs protection."

"Takes one to know one." Eliot replied, starring the man – Rory he corrected himself inwardly – directly in the eyes. "She worth it?"

"What?" Rory all but squealed. "Oh… you noticed me starring at her again, didn't you?"

The Hitter's sly smile was enough answer for him to keep on talking. "Yes, yes she is worth it a million times. I'm Rory by the way", he held out his hand for the Hitter to shake, who accepted gladly.

"Eliot Spencer."

Pointing at the two figures in front he introduced them too, since it was a certainty the Doctor never did.

"The red headed girl is my wife Amy and the lunatic in the bowtie – The Doctor, capital T… you could say he is our designated driver… but to be honest he is rubbish at that."

"Why stick around if he's crazy?"

"He might be mad and reckless but… he's family I suppose. You want to kill them at times but ultimately you love them."

Eliot grunted in confirmation. He knew that feeling all too well. By god he wished at times he could strangle Hardison, throw Parker out the window _without_ a safety suit or hit Nathan with a bottle of beer over the head but he never did. Despite all the bickering and whining and fighting – they were his family. But before he could follow that line of thought any further his mind was brutally yanked back to reality.

"Ahhhh there you are" shouted the madman in a bowtie when they arrived at Lucile – Hardison's van. Who the hell names a van?

The Doctor and Amy stood in front of the abandoned looking van rapping, in some kind of rhythm only the Doctor could hear, at the doors. It took a second rapping and a bit of shouting until the doors finally opened and Hardion's head peaked out.

"The hell man! It's a undercover van. Deep undercover, you shouldn't even be aware we are here. You always walk round knocking on empty van doors?"

"Hardison!" warned Nate, stepping around the Hacker and jumping out. "Can we help you?"

But the Doctor didn't seem to notice Nate, all he did was stare at Hardison, still only looking halfway out of the car. He didn't look well. Not that he would ever admit it but he had a an oncoming nasty headache. If he ever admitted to getting these mind splitting pains, the team would ban him from the computer for a week straight and he needed the plastic screen to keep his mind occupied during those hard and restless nights.

The Doctor gave a cheerful wave, oblivious to Hardison's condition or slightly screwed shut eyes, blinking in the sunlight as if it hurt his eyes.

"Awwwww", announced the madman in a bowtie, "there we meet again Jakey or should I say finally meet? Finally meet again? Ohhhh tenses how they hurt my soul even thinking about them, sooooo terribly confusing. How's the hubby? Canton was such a lovely chap, need to drop in on the pair of you sometimes again… or am I too early again? Never get the timing quite right. Shame. Anyway, been nice seeing you again Jakey-boy, I gotta run. Running around all day long, that's me. Allons-y."

Before anyone could even process properly what the hell this guy that been on about he had already taken of, waving at his two companion to follow. "Sorry he gets like that." Mumbled Rory sheepishly, hurrying after his wife and the Doctor.

TBC…


End file.
